A message from the Mayor - Road works projects

Published on 07 March 2016

There’s no escaping the fact that there are a lot of road works happening around our district at the moment and in particular in the Milduraarea.

Whether they are being completed by us, VicRoads or are part of Lower Murray Water’s infrastructure maintenance program, road workswill inconvenience someone at some time.  However these are essential works and we’re committed to making our roads safer andmaintaining them to the best possible level.

While the works on Fifteenth Street between Deakin Avenue and Walnut Avenue have received quite a lot of coverage, there are lots ofother significant jobs on the go at the moment.  We have six major road reconstructions, two intersection upgrades and thirteen differentsites undergoing or about to undergo road resurfacing.

So why is Council doing so many jobs at this time?

Many of you might not realise, but this is always Council’s busiest period every year for road works.  There are a lot of factors that go in toscheduling road works and finding an optimal time in terms of weather, availability of contractors and staff and the availability of the rawmaterials is always difficult.  Throw in our region’s popularity with visitors, particularly during warmer months, and it can make the timingeven harder to manage. 

This financial year Council has budgeted to spend $12.37million from our capital works budget on road renewal and major upgrades. Anadditional $6.2million will be spent on general road maintenance and repairs, which includes such things as grading, roadside slashing andkerb and channel maintenance. 

With this huge schedule of works planned across the municipality and we really rely on government financial assistance. While a significantportion of these works are funded through your rates, $1.4million of Black Spot funding, $5.17million of Roads to Recovery funding and$1.8million of Federal Assistance Grants will also support this work.

As I’ve said before, as a community there isn’t a whole lot we can do to help extend the life of our road works.  The longevity of a roads lifeis influenced by many factors including weather, the type of soil under the road base and the amount of heavy traffic using the road. 

But as a Council we are prioritising works, trying our best to keep our maintenance costs at an acceptable level and scheduling the works ina manner that tries to reduce the negative impact on road users and residents.

Thank you to our drivers, pedestrians and residents for your patience while these works are happening.

Cr Glenn Milne
Mayor